Course Content
Lectures
- Use of information technologies in agriculture
- Historical review of computer technology and review of agricultural technologies
- Information and communication technologies in the agricultural environment
- Information and information data
- Numerical systems
- Structure, hierarchical organization and categories of computer systems
- Basic network components
- Advanced Computer Applications for Agriculture and programming.
- Sensors Applied in Agricultural crops.
- Αutomation technologies in agriculture
- Robotics applications in agricultural crops
- Applications of computerized agricultural machinery to crops.
- Geomatics and Remote Sensing (Geographical Information System (GIS), Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)
Laboratory Exercises
- Operating systems and computer networks
- Advanced techniques
- Introduction to the Internet
- Information search
- Computer software applications for modeling experimental data
- Exploitation of the Internet in agricultural production
- Computer applications in agricultural production
Course Content
Lectures
- Soil science as a science, the concept of soil, soil as part of the ecosystem.
- Factors of soil formation
- Particle size distribution, soil types, and their properties.
- Soil structure, agglomerates, actual and apparent particle density, porosity, and its relation to soil particle size distribution and fertility.
- Soil minerals with emphasis on clay minerals. Minerals disintegration.
- Organic matter. Source and decomposition of organic matter.
- Holding and moving soil water and air. Soil moisture uptake by plants.
- Water and energy balance in the field. Evapotranspiration.
- Adsorption and exchange of ions.
- Soil reaction and buffering capacity.
- Soil genesis and evolution: Soil factors and processes, soil profile and soil types.
- Soil classification systems. Description of the soil profile. Soil color Soil horizons.
- Soil maps. Mapping and description of cartographic units. Applications in Agriculture
Laboratory Exercises
- Soil Sampling – Air Drying of Soil Samples, Preparation of Soil Samples for Laboratory Analysis – Determination of soil moisture- Safety Measures – Units of Measurement – Description of Devices and Instruments
- Particle size distribution analysis
- Soil density, bulk density
- Organic matter
- Calcium carbonate
- pH, Apparent Electrical Conductivity – Water soluble salts in the soil
Course Content
Lectures
- Historical review of vitis.
- Spread of vitis cultivation in Greece and in general throughout the world.
- Vitis products and their nutritional value.
- Effect of phylloxera on crop development.
- Botanical classification of the genus Vitis.
- Morphology and anatomy of vitis organs.
- Specific elements of vitis physiology. Vegetative cycle (teaching, budding, growth, wood maturation, storage, hibernation). Reproductive phase (stages of flower development, flowering, pollination, fertilization, fruit set and vein development).
- Micro-climate, soil and their effects on vegetation and production.
- Viticultural characteristics and cultivation properties.
- Varieties of winemaking. Table varieties. Special cultivation techniques to improve the quality of table varieties. Raisin varieties. Raisin technology.
- Vineyard installation.
- Irrigation and vitis growth.
- Inorganic nutrition, fertilization, and nutrient deficiency/excess problems.
Course Content
Lectures
Colligative properties of solutions (2 Lectures):
- Vapor pressure
- Boiling point
- Freezing point
- Osmotic pressure
- Fractional distillation
Chemical Thermodynamics (3 Lectures)
- First and second laws
- Gibbs free energy
- Chemical potentials
- Chemical equilibria
- Models of static and dynamic equilibrium
Phase Changes (1 Lecture):
- Phases and components, Degrees of freedom
- Phase balance. Interfacial tension.
- Phase equilibrium diagrams
- Phase transitions. Glassy transition. Crystallization.
- Influence of phase shifts on food quality. Food structure.
Dispersion Systems (2 Lectures):
- Gels – Foams. Emulsions and their stability.
- Rheological – Mechanical – Food viscoelastic properties.
- Diffusion of small molecules into food and polymers (nanofertilizers in Agriculture). Microencapsulation and controlled release of active substances.
- Electrochemical systems-Ions in solution
- Electrical phenomena – application to clay-water systems
Chemical Kinetics (1 Lectures):
- First and second order reactions
- Integrated rate laws
- Reaction rate theories
- Steady state approximation
- Kinetics of food reactions. Finding out the expected shelf life of food.
- Chain reactions (Polymer Chemistry)
- Catalysis
Food processing (2 Lectures):
- Water activity, the relationship of water with food safety and quality.
- Food dehydration procedures. Freeze-drying.
- Food production and packaging processes.
- Heat treatment, UHT, HTST, Aseptic packaging, Pasteurization, Sterilization.
- New Food Production Processes (nanofoods), Food Extrusion.
- Preservation of vitamins in foods.
Instrumental analytical techniques:(1 Lecture):
- Analytical Techniques
- Spectroscopic Techniques
- Chromatographic Techniques
- Molecular Techniques
Laboratory Exercises
- Instrumental analytical techniques
- Measurement of osmotic pressure and osmotic potential.
- Phase equilibrium diagrams
- Determination of Vapor Pressure – Normal Boiling Point & Clausius-Clapeyron Equation
- Fractional distillation
- Chemical equilibria.Models of static equilibrium
- First and second order reactions. Models of dynamic equilibrium Determination of Shelf Life of Foods.
- Isotherm curves.
- Catalysis-Types of Catalysts
- Water activity-Moisture Sorption Isotherm of Foods
- Chain reactions (Polymer Chemistry)
- Heat treatment, UHT, HTST, Aseptic packaging, Pasteurization, Sterilization
- Phytochemicals: Extraction, Isolation, and Identification of Bioactive Compounds from Plant Extracts of Medicinal Plants
Course Content
Lectures
- Introduction to Biochemistry.
- Structure and function of proteins.
- Exploring proteins.
- Nucleic acids and the flow of genetic information.
- Exploring the genes.
- Carbohydrates.
- Lipids.
- Cell membranes.
- Enzymes: basic principles and kinetics.
- Basic concepts of metabolism.
- Glycolysis and gluconeogenesis.
- The citric acid cycle.
- Oxidative phosphorylation.
Laboratory exercises
- General guidelines for experimental research.
- Quantitative biochemical analysis.
- Determination of the total protein concentration by Bradford method.
- Determination of catalase activity.
- Determination of lipid peroxidation.
- Determination of proteins’ molecular weight by gel filtration chromatography.
Course Content
Lectures
- Evolution of vegetable market in Greece and their nutritional value.
- Botanic taxonomy of vegetables; types of gardening.
- Climate requirements of vegetables.
- Soil requirements and soil amelioration
- Propagation techniques of vegetables. Grafting.
- Plant hardening and transplantation to the field.
- Techniques of direct planting in soil and growth development.
- Growth physiology and flower pollination / fertilization.
- Rotation techniques.
- Fertilization and irrigation of vegetables.
- Pest, diseases and weed control.
- Vegetable seed production.
- Harvest, postharvest processes and fresh vegetable distribution on the market.
Laboratory exercises
- Seed identification of vegetables.
- Seed germination; abiotic requirements.
- Propagation techniques
- Hardening and seedling types.
- Transplanting and direct sowing.
- Postharvest process in fresh vegetables.